Being the old capital of Viet Nam, Hue city is the kingdom of cuisine in the country. From the foods for the kings to the foods for local people, all of them must be cooked in very sophisticated and meticulous way so that they will be perfect in flavor, smell and color.
Today, it is very easy for tourist to enjoy all kinds of food here because Hue people today inherited the legacy of cuisine from their ancestors and enjoying local foods in Hue is an interesting experience in the old land of Nguyen kings These are some famous local foods in Hue that should be put into your list
1. Hue beef noodle
This noodle is so famous that you can find it easily not only in Hue but also all over the country or even abroad. The noodle is from rice and broth is an art of cooking with the combination of many ingredients including pig bones, lemongrass, shrimp paste, beef… Hue people usually have beef noodle for breakfast but you can see a lot of places here selling it on the whole day. Some good place to have good beef noodle are Ha Noi street, Ly Thuong Kiet street or Dong Ba market
2. Mussels rice
It is said that we can see the spirit of Hue people through this food. It was the food for poor people who could not afford for expensive breakfast. Mussels rice includes very cheap and available ingredients here like white rice, water mondo, some vegetable and chilly, salt, fish sauce , shrimp paste, peanut, oil, … This is the most colorful food in Hue and it contains the biggest number of ingredients suitable for Hue’s flavor
3. Steamed Cakes from rice flour
These cakes are cooked from rice flour mixed together with shrimp and pork and are eaten with sweet fish sauce with chilly. It is hard to have a fulfilled imagination about these cakes except for seeing them in reality. The good place to enjoy these cakes is Dong Ba market. You can find them at some restaurants nearby the city center but the price is higher a little.
4. Hue fried pancake
This is one of the most popular foods in Viet Nam and you can see a lot of versions of fried pancake in Viet Nam. Although it is cooked from the same ingredients as pancakes from the other lands, Hue fried pancake has the special crispy flavor and the best thing of this food comes from the peanut sauce that is mixed together with many ingredients. The recipe for the sauce is the secret of each family and they rarely share it with strangers.
5. Nem lui ( bbq ground pork)
Hue people use ground pork to cover a lemongrass and barbecue it on the coal until the smell of pork and lemongrass makes unable to keep themselves from stopping at their store to buy Nem lui. The way we eat it is making it the same as a spring roll with a rice paper rolling bbq pork ,vegetables and dip it into a bow of peanut sauce. Lemongrass just provides good smell for the food , not for eating. Remember to get it out of the Nem lui spring roll before dipping it into peanut sauce
6. Che Hue ( sweet soup)
This is the famous dessert after eating lunch and dinner. Many kinds of beans are cooked in hot sugar water to create a sweet flavor for the dessert. The best time to have this food is after enjoying all of the foods recommended above because the dessert will make you full and you will have no more room for the others. There are many other foods in Hue but the ones above are the most famous and a lot of people want to try all of them before leaving the city . If you have more time in Hue, our company can show your an insight discovery for the cuisine here.
7.Noodle with grilled pork
Pork is marinated in the mixture of garlic, fish sauce, pepper, seasoning and grilled on the hot coal. After 15 minutes , grilled pork is put in a bowl of rice noodle ,fresh vegetables and eaten with peanut sauce or fish sauce with chilly. In Hue, people usually have grilled pork noodle in the afternoon and it is sold everywhere in the city.